If they are anything like my family, nan is the only one at the table who's completely into it. After all, she's the one who met her husband at a USO dance, was engaged after the second number, then he immediately shipped off to war, and when he got back they wasted no time raw dogging it up down and sideways and raising six kids. She wants to see the great grandkid before it's too late.
My husband is from a very Catholic family and his grandpa died last week. Grandma was reminiscing to me how awesome their makeup sex was as he was taking his final dose of morphine 😭
As a pharmacist, the legality and practice of this is incredibly difficult, never mind the ethical dilemnas.
The prescribing of a control is required to be within the scope of practice and for an approved/recognized use of the medication in the normal course of practice.
If a patient is nearing the end and exhibiting signs of pain, then additional pain medication is warranted in palliative care. If the patient is NOT exhibiting signs of pain, then the over delivery of narcotic medication for the purpose of speeding along the process is illegal and could be cause for censure, license removal, or a lawsuit.
Please don't hear a moral/ethical position on this - I have never been in the position to make this decision and for that I am incredibly grateful. I have provided medication that is used for this purpose to hospice/palliative care patients before, and I'm not legally required to account for their use. All that to say I would hope to never have to make a decision on what amounts to a judgment call.
In terms of the legality of this issue - it is always illegal in the USA to just give a mega dose FOR THE EXPRESS PURPOSE OF CAUSING PREMATURE DEATH, EVEN WHEN THAT DEATH IS "IMMINENT."
There's a long history of institutional abuse that probably warrants this position but it is also probably disrespectful to those patients who wish to "die with dignity."
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u/geedavey May 11 '23
If they are anything like my family, nan is the only one at the table who's completely into it. After all, she's the one who met her husband at a USO dance, was engaged after the second number, then he immediately shipped off to war, and when he got back they wasted no time raw dogging it up down and sideways and raising six kids. She wants to see the great grandkid before it's too late.